Whether you are a regular internet user or work in an IT department, you must have encountered the situation when you want to connect to another server via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). It has become a necessary tool to send or upload a new file to the designated server. In addition, you can also edit the files or create a backup for all your system data on that server.
Sending files to other servers and performing some actions is possible with the right FTP if you have the proper rights on that server. There are several ways to connect, but using FTP to access the server’s details is the most popular and widely used method.
Here in this article, we will discuss in detail about FTP, its features, and how to use FTP to connect to a different or remote server with proper credentials and access.
What is FTP?
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, a commonly used networking protocol that lets you transfer files or data between computers using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). FTP is a network protocol available for the application layer.
If you use an FTP transaction, you can name the end user’s system as the localhost. The other system with which the localhost is communicating is called the remote host (can be a server). The local host and remote host should be connected to the internet to start and complete the connection. Once both the local and the remote systems are connected to the internet, you can transfer the files directly. It is essential to install the FTP software to access FTP services.
Apart from TCP, many users still rely on the HTTP protocol for transferring the file. HTTP is another TCP/IP suite protocol, but not as robust as FTP. But, FTP is far more popular due to easy services and security.
Choosing an FTP Client
Several FTP clients are available in the market. You must choose the right client for your purpose. However, the FTP client comes with an easy-to-navigate and user-friendly interface, clear functions, and advanced features. If you are an experienced user, you can also use the FTP server via the command prompt line.
You can start with the download of the FTP client of your choice, providing you an interface to access the files on the remote server. From various FTP client tools, you can choose either FileZilla, Cyberduck, or WinSCP. We are considering FileZilla for this article and will explain everything in simple steps to execute the file transfer process. The concept will be the same for other FTP clients but with some minor differences.
Connecting to FTP Client
Any user can connect to FTP servers via three ways — using visual clients, using web browser-based clients, or using the command prompt line. Many users find a visual client to be the easiest tool for downloading and installing.
- A visual client is a simple program, allowing you to enter the essential FTP details like address and port, and the program does all the work.
- If you are using the web browser to connect to the FTP, you need to provide the FTP address and other login credentials. This way, you might have a slower speed, and it is also less reliable.
- You can also use the command prompt to enter the FTP server using simple commands.
How to use FileZilla FTP Client?
You need to follow the below steps to connect to the FileZilla FTP Client.
Using FTP Client
Downloading and Installing FileZilla
- FileZilla is one of the widely used FTP clients, providing fast uploads and downloads, among other alternatives. You can download FileZilla on your system’s web browser.
- Once you have downloaded the FileZilla, you can start the installation process.
Windows
If you are using the Windows system, then double-click on the FileZilla setup file and click on yes.
- Select ‘I agree’ and continue.
- Click ‘Next’ for the next four times.
- Now, uncheck the Driver Update page option.
- Select ‘Next’.
- Then, uncheck the WinZip page option.
- Click on ‘Next’.
- Your installation process will take a few seconds to complete.
Mac
- Double-click on the FileZilla DMG files from downloads.
- Then you have to drag the FileZilla application icon on the ‘Applications’ folder.
- Go through the installation steps carefully to complete the installation process.
Once the installation process is complete, you can start the FileZilla application by clicking on its icon. You will get the below interface.
Providing FTP server’s details
You can see the username and password field at the top of the FileZilla window in the above image. You can provide details as below:
- Host – specifies the FTP address.
- Username – specifies the login username.
- Password – specifies the password for the FTP server to connect.
- Port – specifies the FTP server’s port number.
Once you provide all the details, click on the ‘Quick Connect’ option to enter, and the connection will be made to the server.
Once the connection is established you can see the tree-like structure of files and folders on the right-side panel of the open window. Now, you are ready to exchange the files and other data. But, if you do not have complete rights, you may not enter some directories. To have complete control, you should have administrative rights on the server’s folders.
Transferring files
You can follow the below given simple steps to transfer files between the localhost and the remote host.
- If you are working with the Windows and Mac systems, you must have built-in features, allowing you to upload and download the FTP files. It might not be necessary that you have the FileZilla downloaded and installed. But having it speeds up the process of transferring the files.
Downloading
- In the below image, you will have the local folder on the left side of the FileZilla interface through which you can navigate easily. Also, you can type the complete path to the required folder for faster access.
- Now, navigate through the files and folder on the right side of the interface and specify the file that you want to download on the localhost. Once you find the file, drag and drop it to the right side of the interface to transfer it.
You can even check the size of the file under the ‘Filesize’ column. It allows you to select and download multiple files simultaneously. It also allows you to add various files to the download queue by selecting and right-clicking on the files and clicking on ‘Add files to queue’.
Uploading
- Now for uploading any file, you need to search for the files and folders on the right side of the interface. Once you encounter the desired file, you can upload it to the remote host that is on the left side of the interface. Some of the FTP clients might not allow you to upload the file with anonymous users. Upload may take more time than the download process.
- At the bottom of the interface, you can check and track down the file transfer status. It will show you a list of files that are transferring or being transferred or are in the queue. These files are listed as per their priority, size, percent complete. You can even see the failed files there. Each file displays the status as failed or successful.
- You can even create your server and let other users connect to it and upload files.
Using Command Prompt
You can also perform FTP transfers using the command prompt or command line. Here are the steps to do so.
- Command-based FTP client is available for Windows, Mac, and various Linux distributions.
Navigate through the Windows start option and type cmd in the Run box to directly open the command prompt.
For the Mac system, click on spotlight and type terminal, and double-click on it. To open a terminal in Linux distributions, press the combination of Ctrl + Alt + T keys.
- The FTP command will remain the same for all the FTP clients irrespective of the underlying OS. To create a connection to the server, type FTP, and the link. Once the connection is established, you will be asked for the username and the password for login. If you are trying to connect to the public FTP, you can use the username as anonymous, and then click on the Enter key.
- To check the list of the files and directories on the server, you need to type dir /p as shown below.
- You can navigate the specified file or directory using the cd command as shown below to check for the transferred file.
- The FTP gets connected in the ASCII mode by default and is usually designed to transfer text files. You can type binary for changing the mode to binary, and press Enter key. For downloading media files, binary is the well-suited mode.
- You can use the get command on the command prompt to download a file from the remote server to your local system. You can run the command as shown below:
- Similarly, you can use the command prompt to upload the file from the localhost to the remote host. Use the put command on the terminal as shown in the image below.
- Once you are done with the file transfer, you must close the connection to the remote server using the close command.
Conclusion
Today, many companies and IT industries keep their data on various servers to ensure the availability of the data in case of system failure. FTP is one of the commonly used network protocols worldwide. You can choose any of the FTP clients to make the transfer. In this article, we have discussed in detail how to use FileZilla to upload and download files from the remote host.
Also, we have explained how you can access FTP from the command prompt. You can use these FTP clients on any platform.